


They're Shooting My Wings Away

by small_town_girl



Category: Glee
Genre: Abandonment, Angst, Brotherhood, Family, Friendship, Gen, Pranks and Practical Jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-01
Updated: 2011-05-01
Packaged: 2017-10-18 21:04:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/193267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/small_town_girl/pseuds/small_town_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Glee Angst Meme: Kurt goes on his first ever Warblers Bonding Night and finds out where he truly belongs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They're Shooting My Wings Away

It was the best night Finn could remember having in a long time. His mom and Burt were up in their room, probably sleeping by now, while he was in the living room with some of his friends, watching Artie destroy Sam on Sam’s own Avatar game. It was amusing to see Sam getting so frustrated at Artie’s beginner’s luck. Puck had already claimed the right to play the winner so Finn was relaxing on the couch with Mike and sharing a bowl of chips.

Kurt had gone out earlier with some guys from his school and wasn‘t expected back that night. Some guy in a nice car and a Dalton uniform had picked him up after lunch for Kurt’s first official Warblers’ Bonding Night Approved By The Council. Finn had no clue what it meant but Kurt seemed excited for it for Finn hoped his stepbrother had fun. He knew Blaine wasn’t going because of some family obligation that he couldn’t get out of; Kurt had said he’d tried but Mr Anderson had insisted Blaine go home.

If Burt or his mom came down and saw them all still wide awake and playing video game, Finn knew they would be in trouble. It was getting close to three in the morning and he’d promised his mom they would put the games away by one. As long as neither adult cam downstairs everything would be fine. He’d already turned off most of the lights so if he heard footsteps he could turn off the television and they’d all pretend to be asleep. That would work.

“Your couch is vibrating,” Mike said. He sounded on the verge on falling asleep even after drinking three cans of soda.

Finn stuck his hand between the cushions and pulled out his cell phone. When did it fall out of his pocket?

“Hello.”

“Finn….I…..help,” was all Finn could make out through Kurt’s sobs.

He must have said something because suddenly Puck was beside him, demanding to know what was wrong with Kurt. He was with Dalton boys, he was supposed to be safe. Karofsky wouldn’t go after him when he was surrounded by a bunch of other boys, right?

“Kurt, where are you?” Finn asked as he felt Puck press his head close so he could listen. There was no noise in the background so the other guys must have paused the game.

“Columbus,” came Kurt’s hysterical reply. Whatever had happened, it had to be bad to get this kind of reaction from Kurt.

“Do you want me to get your dad?” Finn thought that was reasonable. Adults knew how to handle situations and Finn felt way in over his head with this one.

Kurt made a terrified noise and his sobbing increased. Finn thought he just might make himself sick, like Matt had when they were ten and he’d broken his arm after falling out of a tree.

“I just need you to come get me,” Kurt said once he’d calmed down enough to speak. He was still crying and he was still hard to understand but he didn’t sound like he was going to be sick or pass out anymore.

“Okay, I can do that,” Finn agreed immediately. He just wanted Kurt to stop crying.

“I need you to bring my credit card too,” Kurt kept talking as through Finn never answered him. “It’s in my coat pocket in my room. But don’t wake Carole or my dad. They can’t know.”

“Kurt, what’s going on?” Finn asked again. He did not have a good feeling about any of this.

Kurt sighed on his end of the phone. It sounded sad but like he was accepting something, like when his mom would sigh after he’d torn a hole in his new clothes.

“They left me,” Kurt’s voice was so soft Finn could barely hear him. He didn’t think Puck, who was still trying to listen in, could hear him. “One of them knows a guy who works here and got him to book a couple of rooms for us without credit cards. They just left. I didn’t get it but soon I was all alone and the manager was banging on the door demanding money. He said they’ve done this before and he’s not going to be cheated out of his money this time. He won’t believe me that I had nothing to do with it.”

By the end of Kurt’s speech he was crying again. Finn really wished one of the girls was there. They were so much better at calming down Kurt when he was upset. Or Blaine. Blaine would work too. Wait, did Blaine know?

“What hotel are you at?” Finn was angry but did his best not to show it. Kurt always told him anger didn’t help in these kind of situations.

“Embassy Suites,” Kurt mumbled. Now he sounded tired. Maybe he would be asleep by the time they got there and Finn could just scoop him up and carry him to the car. Sleeping was better than crying.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Finn promised.

He hung up and slid the phone into his pocket, taking a deep breath before he turned to face the other guys. Puck’s face was already red with anger and Finn wasn’t sure if he heard the whole story. The other guys just looked worried.

“We have to go to Columbus to pick up Kurt,” Finn explained. “If you don’t want to come then you can stay here. Decide before I get back from Kurt’s room or you’re staying anyway.”

That probably wasn’t enough of an explanation for them but Finn didn’t care. He tried to be as quiet as he could going up the stairs and into Kurt’s room, finding Kurt’s jacket on his bed and the mentioned credit card in the pocket. Just as quietly, Finn went back downstairs to find all the guys with the jackets on, with Sam holding Finn’s out to him as he joined them.

“Do you have that bird’s cell phone number?” Puck asked him as they quietly went outside to Kurt’s Navigator. Finn was glad Kurt left his keys home since none of their cars would fit Artie’s wheelchair. Plus Kurt’s car had GPS.

“Why?”

“I’m going to call him and find out if he knew about what they were doing to Kurt,” Puck replied with a growl. He was pissed. Finn recognized the look in his friend’s eyes as the same one Puck got before Fight Club. If any Warblers were still hanging around when they got there, Puck was going bird hunting. “And if he knew I’m going to make him regret it.”

“Kick his ass?” Sam said and he helped Finn get Artie into the car.

“No,” Puck grinned. “I’m going to tell Rachel and Mercedes what pretty bird did to their boy and watch them kick his ass.”

Finn hopped into the driver’s seat with Puck claiming the passenger’s seat and Mike and Sam sitting behind them with Artie. It would be a tight squeeze coming home but maybe that was a good thing. Kurt would see he had friends who were willing to drive to Columbus to rescue him without a second thought. Kurt would see that he was still one of them.

*****

It had been the best night Kurt could remember having in a long time. David had picked him up, insisting he not bring any money because tonight was on The Council’s expense. They’d had dinner at the hotel restaurant after checking in to their adjoining rooms and had charged the entire meal to their bill. Kurt hadn’t even thought about what the total of the meal alone would be, add in two hotel rooms and it had to be approaching five hundred dollars. It wouldn’t be near as bad as it could have been since not everyone had shown up; only five other guys but Thad insisted that was normal.

When Thad and Jeff had left to go get some drinks Kurt hadn’t thought anything was weird. They would need something to drink. Trent had claimed he forgot something at the restaurant so he left to retrieve it before it ended up getting thrown out. Again no warning bells had gone off. It had been a perfectly good excuse. We had grumbled about inconsiderate junior members and had claimed he was going to find Thad and Jeff. It had been so Wes that Kurt never thought to question him. It had been until David walked out the door with the excuse of making sure he’d locked his car that Kurt had begun to think something was wrong. A few minutes later and the manager had been banging on the door.

All that lead to where Kurt was now, crying in the manager’s office and begging the man to understand that he wasn’t a part of whatever was going on. While the manager was dealing with the employee who’d booked them the rooms, Kurt called Finn to come get him. He couldn’t call his dad and he wouldn’t call Blaine. He was too terrified to call Blaine because if it turned out Blaine knew, Kurt wasn’t sure if he could take it.

“Do I need to call your parents?” the manager asked when he came back into the office. The man had exactly zero sympathy for him, even when he’d been crying so hard he couldn’t speak. All he wanted was for someone to pay for the meals and the rooms; he didn’t care that Kurt kept insisting he had no intention of ripping him off.

“My brother’s coming with your money,” Kurt told him quietly. He was being judged for wearing the Dalton uniform, which Wes had insisted everyone had to wear tonight. The crest on his blazer that once meant safety mocked him from his reflection in the mirror behind the manager’s desk. The crest no longer meant safety; the crest brought him looks of distain and crushing loneliness.

He’d been so excited to have been invited to a Warblers event, especially to one that Blaine wasn’t attending. It meant the other guys were starting to see him as more than just ‘the kid Blaine rescued’ and starting to see him as Kurt Hummel. Obviously he’d been wrong. He wasn’t fitting in with them; he was a joke to them. How was he supposed to face them at school on Monday?

‘Sir,” a girl only a few years older than Kurt spoke from the doorway, “there are some young men in the lobby I think you’ve been waiting for.”

The manager got up and left without a glance at Kurt. Was Finn here with some of the guys or did some of the Warblers come back? Maybe some of them felt guilty and would explain to the manager that he had nothing to do with this horrible prank.

“Your brother is here,” the girl was back. She looked like she wanted to hug him but she restrained herself. At least someone seemed to believe that this wasn’t his fault.

“Thank you,” Kurt winced at how hoarse his voice was after all that crying. His throat would be sore later.

She smiled and lead him out of the office, to where the manager was standing at the front desk with his credit card in hand. He signed without even looking at the total. He didn’t want to know; he just wanted to go home.

“Kurt,” Finn’s arms were around him and Kurt just let himself collapse against his stepbrother. He was too tired to be strong anymore. “Let’s go home, okay?”

Kurt just nodded and allowed himself to be led out to his car. He could hear the other guys talking but he couldn’t bring himself to care about the conversation. He wanted to get home, climb into his nice, warm, safe bed, and pretend the world didn’t exist for a few days.

He found himself settled in the middle seat in between Artie and Puck. Mike was in the passenger’s seat with Sam in the back. If Kurt wasn’t so tired Puck slinging an arm over his shoulders and pulling him against his body would have shocked him. Instead Kurt closed his eyes and snuggled into the warm body.

“Hey,” Puck’s voice was soft, so soft only Artie could possibly overhear. “I called Blaine. He had no idea what was going to happen and he’s pissed. He was talking about going to the school board when I hung up.”

Kurt let out the best appreciative noise he could manage in his position. It did help to know Blaine had been in the dark and was so mad on his behalf. He hadn’t lost everything from Dalton tonight but he’d lost enough to not want to go back. The Warblers weren’t his friends. He belonged with New Directions.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Finn has some of the Glee guys over for the night while Kurt is having a boys' night with some Dalton guys. He gets a call in the middle of the night from an extremely hysterical Kurt. The Dalton guys(up to anon if Blaine was there) ditched him and stuck him with the bill(hotel room/restaurant/up to anon). And Kurt had just started feeling like he was fitting in at Dalton. Finn(and whatever Glee guys he ends up waking up with that call) have to sneak out to get Kurt and somehow keep Burt and Carole from finding out.


End file.
